National Policy for Persons with Disabilities has been announced in February, 2006.
You can have access to English & Hindi Version.

The National Policy recognizes that Persons with Disabilities are valuable human
resource for the country and seeks to create an environment that provides them equal
opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation in society. The
focus of the policy is on (a) Prevention of Disabilities and (b) Rehabilitation
Measures.

The salient features of the National Policy are:

Physical Rehabilitation, which
includes early detection and intervention, counseling & medical interventions
and provision of aids & appliances. It also includes the development of rehabilitation
professionals.

Educational Rehabilitation including
vocational training and

Economic Rehabilitation for
a dignified life in society.

The policy specifically focuses on issues concerning women and children with disabilities.

Various Ministries/Departments in Central Government and the State Governments and
UT Administrations are implementing the policy, which is a continuous process.

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full
Participation) Rules, 1996 provide the broad guidelines for issue of the disability
certificates. The Rules lay down that a Medical Board, duly constituted by the Central
and the State Government, shall issue a Disability Certificate. The certificate
issued by the Medical Board makes a person eligible to apply for facilities, concessions
and benefits admissible under schemes of the Governments or Non-Governmental Organisations,
subject to such conditions as the Central or the State Government may impose.

The guidelines issued by the Government for simplification of the procedures for
issue of disability certificates are:-

Particular day(s) in a week/month
for issue of certificates may be fixed.

Camps may be held for issuing
disability certificate at the taluka/block level.

Camps with other programmes
such as rural development and poverty alleviation may be linked up.

Specific time frame may be prescribed
for issue of disability certificate may be given.

Difficulties are being faced
in issue of disability certificate for persons with mental retardation due to non-availability
of psychiatrist / clinical psychologist / pediatrician in the Medical Board. Private
practitioners of repute may be co-opted in the Medical Board.

No fee should be charged from
the persons with disabilities for issue of disability certificate.

For issue of disability certificate to students with disabilities, the guidelines
are: -

The responsibility for arranging
the issue of the certificate has to be of the principals/headmasters of the schools.

On the written request of school
authorities, the District Medical Board should visit the school for evaluation of
the disability of the student and issue certificate as per the notified guidelines
and format of certificate.

In case the Medical Board is
of the view that the evaluation of disability of a particular student can be done
only after carrying out certain tests with the equipments available in the District
Hospital and therefore, the student should brought to the Hospital, the school authority
shall make arrangement for the visit. The expenditure will be borne by the Education
Department of the State Government / UT Administration.

No fee should be charged from
the disabled students for issue of disability certificate.

The certificate may be issued
before completion of the schooling of the disabled student along with their School
Leaving Certificate or as and when required.

Guidelines for evaluation of various disabilities and procedure
for certification

The Government has notified the guidelines for evaluation of locomotor, visual,
hearing, mental retardation and multiple disabilities and the procedure for certification,
formulated by the Expert Committees set up by the Government, under the Chairmanship
of Director General Health Services (DGHS), vide notification No. 16-18/97-NI I
dated 1st June, 2001.

As per the guidelines, the Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare is the final authority, should there arise any controversy /
doubt regarding the interpretation of the definitions/classifications / evaluations
tests etc.

Therefore, for any problems relating to evaluation of various disabilities and procedure
for certification, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi may be approached.

Notification of Guidelines for evaluation of various disabilities and procedure
for certification

Order for Sub-Committee constituted in the sector of multiple disability

Participants of the Meeting held on 29.8.2000 under the chairmanship of Dr. S.P.
Aggarwal, Director General (Health Services)with the Sub-committee

Participants of the meeting held on 17.8.2000 under the Chairmanship of Dr. S.P.Agarwal,
Director General of Health Services with the Members of Sub-Committee

Categories of Disability

Guidelines for Evaluation and Assessment of Mental illness and Procedure for Certification
(Corrigendum)

Minutes of the Meeting of the committee to review mental illness

Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale

Manual for "IDEAS", Instrument for scoring the activities of the patients

Certificate Format of Mental Retardation for Government Benefits

Certificate Format for the Persons with Disabilities

Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment
for Disabled and Elderly Persons

Barrier-free environment enables people with disabilities to move about safely and
freely, and use the facilities within the built environment. The goal of barrier
free design is to provide an environment that supports the independent functioning
of individuals so that they can participate without assistance, in every day activities.
Therefore, to the maximum extent possible, buildings / places / transportation systems
for public use will be made barrier free. Central Public Works Department under
the Ministry of Urban Development has issued guidelines in this regard.